


You and Me, No Matter When

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Falling In Love, Kissing, Love Confessions, One Night Stands, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 19:03:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13958010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: 4 different parallel versions of the Doctor and Rose discover love with each other.





	You and Me, No Matter When

**Author's Note:**

> Each *********** separates the mini stories. I hope this isn't too confusing! I really like how it turned out and I hope you enjoy it!:)

Rose’s first clue was when she woke up naked. The second was when she turned over her shoulder and saw that the Doctor was curled up behind her, his arm around her waist. The TARDIS hummed in her mind, so she at least knew she was home, if nothing else. It was a bit reassuring, in a way.  She blinked, then squeezed her eyes shut when her head started to hurt. She was certainly hungover, but she couldn’t remember what had happened the night before. 

She expected when the Doctor awoke that he would leave as quickly as possible, probably still starkers.  She turned back over and tried to move out of his arms before he could even wake up and be upset. HIs hands drew her closer, though, and she froze, unable to move.  He pressed his nose to her neck, followed by kisses to her nape and down to her shoulders. 

“Doctor,” she whispered, needing him to be awake if this was happening. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest as her nerves ratcheted up. 

“Mm,” he groaned against her skin and she shivered, holding onto his hands where they lay over her.

“Doctor, wake up.”

“I’m awake,” he murmured, mouthing his way down her back. 

“You’re not upset?” She asked softly, turning to look over her shoulder at him. He moved up to look at her, his eyes darkened and his jaw slightly slack.  

“No,” he said.  “But, erm. Do you remember what happened last night?”

She shook her head and then winced.  “No, I don’t remember,” She said, “Do you?”

“I remember a bit more than you,” he admitted, “I remember drinking too much.” He shot her a bit of a look. “I remember telling you not to drink so much.”

“I don’t even remember that,” she admitted, rolling over in his arms so she wouldn’t have to crane her neck.  “Did you kiss me or did I kiss you?” She asked, trying to be a little teasing. 

He smiled a little.  “I kissed you,” he mumbled, “Not that there was much kissing after that.  Not on you mouth, anway.”

She put her head in her hands. “Oh, God,” she groaned. 

He pulled on her wrists. “Wait, are  _ you  _ upset?”

“No, I just…” She felt herself tearing up. “This isn’t how I would’ve wanted it to happen,” She admitted, embarrassed for feeling emotional.  “I wanted- if it ever happened, I wanted it to be special.”

He tugged her hands a little harder until they moved away from her face.  He looked so worried that Rose started to feel a little guilty. 

“We could… We could pretend like this is our first time,” He said hopefully. “But from the blurry bits I remember, Rose, I… It was good. We were good.”

She felt a bit encouraged by his words, and as he leaned forward, she brought her hand to the back of his neck and when his lips met hers, she kept him there.  He sighed in relief and opened his mouth over hers, kissing her deeply and rolling her onto her back. She wrapped her arms around him and he broke away from her mouth, panting heavily.

“Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“Thank  _ God.” _

*******************

John and Rose were best friends.   _ Best  _ friends, and best friends didn’t sleep together. They didn’t.  But when John showed up at Rose’s door after she’d had a rough night, she’d invited him in.  She wasn’t sure what she expected, but one moment they’d been talking on her couch, and John had told her that she deserved better than the men that chased her, and all of a sudden Rose couldn’t think of anything except kissing him.

So she did it.  She threw herself into him and kissed him hard, wrapping her arms around his neck and straddling his lap.  He fell back into her for several moments, then pushed her back, his cheeks flushed and eyes blown wide.

“Hey, listen, I know- I - this has been rough for you, guys using you… And that’s terrible, and I want to beat the shit out of them, but… I wouldn’t want you to regret me.”

“I don’t think I could regret anything with you,” she confessed softly, sitting back, her bum nearer to his knees.  She cupped his face and looked him in the eye. “I love being near you, I get butterflies around you, and I always have, and you’ve never done anything to make me feel upset or hurt.  Maybe it was supposed to me you and me all along.”

He blushed and looked down at his hands on her waist.  “I… Rose, please don’t tease me.”

“I’m not,” she whispered, not moving her hands from his cheeks. “I’m not teasing.”

“So you must know,” he said softly, “How I feel about you.”

She felt like a revelation had crashed down on her. She’d always looked at him and wondered what would happen if something changed between them.  But he’d been so unattainable. He was gorgeous, and smarter than her, and at times she was insecure because she knew he was worth far more than her. 

“You… John, I never believed that you would feel anything like that for me.”  She sagged against him, pulling him into a hug. He sighed and hugged her back, kissing her cheek. 

“I care about you so much,” he said softly, “So much that I feel like anything that starts shouldn’t start when you’re not…  Ready.”

“Well… Who says it has to start with something so drastic?  Why can’t we just decide, right here and now, that we’re tired of pretending we don’t want each other?” she pulled back to look him in the eyes.  “I want to be with you.”

He beamed up at her, eyes shining. “Maybe we should start with something a little simpler though?  Chips?”

“A first official date?”

“If you like.”

“I’d like.  Yeah.”

He hugged her again and sighed happily, and Rose smiled, feeling happy for the first time in a very, very long time.  She didn’t think that it was the time to tell him that she thought she might have been falling in love with him this whole time.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t feel it.

************

He opened her bedroom door on the TARDIS and peeked in, seeing her sitting up in bed reading.   She peered up from her book and stared at him, waiting for him to speak first. He didn’t, just looked at her for awhile, and she laughed. 

“Okay, what do you need?” She asked. 

“Just… Wanted to make sure you were alright.”

She arched a brow at him. “I’m alright.”

“Good!  Yes. Good.” he nodded, as if to himself, and started to leave, but Rose could sense that he didn’t really want to, so she sat up a little straighter and called out to him, making him stop.  

“Doctor?” 

“Erm, yeah?”

“Wanna grab a cuppa?  We can have a chat, if you like.”

He nodded vigorously. “Yes, I’d like that very much,” he admitted, and held out his hand for her.  She shuffled out of bed and took his hand, letting him lead her to the galley. 

“Today scared you,” she told him, and it really wasn’t a question, since she knew him so well after all this time. 

He set the kettle up and she sat down, waiting for his response. It took awhile for it to come, but when it did it was soft and admitting. 

“You didn’t have your face,” he said quietly, “And if I hadn’t been able to fix it, to fix you...   You would’ve been lost, and I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

“Well, you didn’t lose me,” Rose said.  “I’m right here.

“Yeah, but… What if you weren’t? What if I’d messed up so bad-”

“Doctor.’

“Mm.”

“What you do, and how you do it, is bigger than me.  Bigger than all humans, really. And yet you still blame yourself for the tiniest things in the world.  I didn’t have to stay back and investigate, but I wanted to. That’s my fault, not yours.” She held her hand up, “And before you say something stupid, like I shouldn’t be with you, then, you can just shut it, because I want to be here with you, and I know you don’t feel the same but I love you, and so-”

‘Who said?”

“What?”

“Who said I don’t feel the same about you?” He demanded. “Who says I don’t love you?”

She blinked. “Well, the past few weeks- you’ve been distant.”

“Because you let me too close,” the Doctor said, not bearing to look at her.  “Because you treat me like I’m better than I am, and I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve your love.”

“Everyone deserves love, Doctor,” Rose furrowed her brows.  “Especially you. After everything you’ve done for the people of the universe, I think you deserve love.”

She got to her feet and pulled his shoulder so he turned around and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pressing his nose to her cheek. It was an awkward angle, but with Rose’s arms wrapped around his waist, he thought it wasn’t so bad.  She pressed a kiss to his chest and closed her eyes, her heart pounding with her confession and not quite recovering from the fact that  _ he’d said it back.  He loved her too.  _

“Can I kiss you?” He asked in a shaky voice, and she smiled, nodding against him. 

“Yeah, please,” she said, tipping her head back.  He took her face in his hands and kissed her softly, probing her lips with his tongue, granting himself entrance.  She smiled and let him take control of the kiss, guiding her in it until she felt breathless. 

“Doctor,” she whispered when they broke apart.  “Sod the tea.”

********************************

Rose had never had a one night stand, but she thought when she did, it would because she was drunk.  But she was completely sober, and in bed with the guy from her English class that she’d been a bit infatuated with.  He was kind and sweet and intelligent and- they’d really had fun at the party the night before. She’d learned so much about him and really loved talking to him.  And when they’d ended up snogging in the kitchen, she decided it wasn’t really worth it to stop.

He wasn’t drunk either, and they were both lying in  _ his  _ bed, staring up at the ceiling in the harsh morning light. 

Suddenly, after several moments of silence in which they were both terribly awake, he turned over onto his side. “Listen, I don’t want this to ruin whatever relationship we might be able to have,” he said earnestly.

“What?”

“Yeah, um… You’re beautiful, Rose, and I’ve wanted to get to know you- I just didn’t know-” he winced, “I’m very bad at this.”

Rose shuddered from head to toe and looked over at him.  “Erm, John, you aren’t  _ bad  _ at all.  Really.”

He grinned a little. “Still, that’s not how I would’ve liked this to begin, I will admit.”

“We could just… Try to get to know each other, then,” she laughed. “You are single right?”

“Oh! Yes, very single.  Dreadfully single,” he nodded.  “But… Rose, I think we should address the fact that there is an undeniable attraction between us. You are- I mean neither of us were drinking at all, and we just-”

The memories of him touching her crashed over her, of his mouth all over her body, his hands coasting over her.  It was almost too much and she thought she might implode with heat. She reached for him and grabbed his hair, tugging him against her before he could even finish talking. He made a squeaking sound but wrapped his arms around her waist, letting her roll him onto his back. 

He kissed her urgently but then pulled back after a few moments. “Wait, uh, I thought maybe we should move a little slower.”

“Once more, for luck?” she asked, and his jaw grew slack. 

“Uh, sure! Yes, I mean, go ahead!  Right-o.” 

She giggled and kissed him again, wondering just why it felt so perfect.  

They stayed together, which surprised most of their friends who saw them at the party and thought that they would just sleep together and not have anything else.  But to most’s surprise, the two of them studied and ate together and easily, but not quite simply, fell in love. 

Rose had always thought she didn’t want a serious relationship, bu twhen John brought her flowers on their first Valentine’s Day as a couple, she thought that she should probably change her mind about the whole thing. 

 

Because, in every universe, in every timeline, there is a Doctor (no matter what his name is) and a Rose Tyler.  And in every universe, in every timeline, the Doctor and Rose will always find each other. 

Forever.


End file.
